Now the the next coup attempt starts

[blastula]

Kemp signs sweeping elections bill passed by Georgia legislature. Here's what's in it. - ABC News

A bunch of shit to make it harder to vote and easier for the Trumplican party to game the system. The bill takes power away from the secretary of state* and local officials (the ones who stopped the election overturn attempt there) and transfers it to the legislature, just like Trump wanted and many Republican legislatures in several states wanted. Other states should soon follow. Oh, and Kemp is a punk for signing it after how Trump trashed him.

*Not that it even matters about the secretary of state role, since the Republican trying to unseat the current one is a Trump lackey.

 

[lpetrich]

philip lewis on Twitter: "This is wild. Georgia Rep. Park Cannon was detained by police for knocking on Gov. Brian Kemp’s door. (vid link)" / Twitter
then
philip lewis on Twitter: "”You have a woman of color fighting for the rights of Georgians and they arrested her for knocking on the door because she wanted to witness our governor sign the bill.” (link)" / Twitter
noting
Police arrest Georgia Democratic lawmaker outside governor's office during protest of election bill

Georgia state troopers arrested state Rep. Park Cannon on Thursday as she knocked on Gov. Brian Kemp’s door, interrupting his livestreamed announcement that he had signed an elections bill into law.

The officers forcibly removed Cannon, a Democrat from Atlanta, dragging her through the Capitol and pushing her into a police car. She was charged with obstruction of law enforcement and disrupting General Assembly sessions, according to the Georgia State Patrol and released on bond late Thursday.

Also
Greg Bluestein on Twitter: "“Why are you arresting her?” This Facebook Live video from @TWareStevens shows the moment authorities detained state Rep. Park Cannon as @GovKemp was behind those doors signing elections restrictions into law. #gapol (vid link)" / Twitter
then
Greg Bluestein on Twitter: "@TWareStevens @GovKemp Said Stevens, who is at the jail w/ Cannon now: "She wasn’t banging on the door. She was knocking on the door. She was being respectful. She knew he was signing a bill that would affect all Georgians – why would he hide behind closed doors? This isn’t a monarchy." #gapol" / Twitter


It got responses like

Ilhan Omar on Twitter: "Arresting a sitting member of a legislative body, while in session for knocking on the door of the Governor is wild and completely unacceptable.

Are there laws against knocking on the Governor’s door in Georgia, what is she actually being arrested for?" / Twitter

 

[lpetrich]

State Rep Park Cannon has a lot to say.
Representative Park Cannon on Twitter: "Hey everyone, thank you for your support. ..." / Twitter

Hey everyone, thank you for your support. I’ve been released from jail. I am not the first Georgian to be arrested for fighting voter suppression. I’d love to say I’m the last, but we know that isn’t true. #SB202

But someday soon that last person will step out of jail for the last time and breathe a first breath knowing that no one will be jailed again for fighting for the right to vote. #SB202

As you know by now, earlier today I was arrested outside Gov. Kemp’s office door as he signed #SB202

#SB202 restricts many methods of voting. These restrictions serve no purpose other than to keep voters from exercising their constitutional right to vote.

Who -- and what -- are they protecting when they work this hard to suppress our vote? #SB202

In November and January we refused to be controlled at the ballot box. #SB202 is a direct retaliation.

I am grateful that my pastor @ReverendWarnock & community held witness and prayed for me, my family & our state. Electing @ossoff
and @ReverendWarnock to the Senate united Georgia in hope and gave us the courage to stand up against the hate we face.

And make no mistake, when I say hate, I mean white supremacy. The closed-door signing of #SB202 and the senseless murder of #AAPI Georgians are both products of a white supremacist system. Different tactics, same goal: fear and control.

We will not live in fear and we will not be controlled. We have a right to our future and a right to our freedom. We will come together and continue fighting white supremacy in all its forms.

Governor Brian P. Kemp on Twitter: "I was proud to sign S.B. 202 to ensure elections in Georgia are secure, fair, and accessible. I appreciate the hard work of members of the General Assembly to make it easy to vote and hard to cheat. (pic link)" / Twitter

Alyssa Pointer on Twitter: "Rep. @Cannonfor58 is arrested and lead out of the Georgia State Capitol building by GA State Troopers after being asked to stop knocking on a door that lead to Gov. Brian Kemp's office, while Gov. Kemp was signing #SB202 behind closed doors in #Atlanta #gapol (pix link)" / Twitter

 

[lpetrich]

Here is what is in that bill.
Sweeping changes to Georgia elections signed into law

• Absentee ballots will be verified based on driver’s license numbers or other documentation instead of voter signatures.
• Ballot drop boxes will only be allowed inside early voting locations and available strictly during business hours.
• Weekend voting will be expanded for general elections, with two mandatory Saturdays offered statewide. Counties could also choose to offer early voting on two optional Sundays.
• Early voting for runoffs will be reduced to a minimum of one week because runoffs will occur four weeks after general elections.
• The deadline to request an absentee ballot will be set 11 days before election day.
• Members of the public will be prohibited from distributing food or water to voters waiting in line. Election workers are allowed to set up self-service water stations for voters in line.
• The State Election Board could remove county election boards and replace them with an interim elections manager.
• A hotline to report illegal election activities will be set up in the attorney general’s office.
• Counties will be required to certify election results within six days, instead of the 10 days currently allowed. Election workers will also be required to count ballots without stopping until they’re finished.

The bill itself: Georgia General Assembly - SB 202

 

[Elixir]

Hopefully the Republitards have gotten so far out of hand that Dems will be "forced" to sideline the filibuster, at least to get the voting rights bill passed. If they can't do that, they might as well take a page out of Cheato's book, stop pretending and go play golf.

 

[SLD]

The problem is the Supreme Court. They are already signaling that they will uphold restrictions, including those just passed by Georgia. Although they will likely strike down the provision about giving water and food. But they’ll hold up the legislature’s control over the votes. At the same time they are likely to strike down any federal laws trying to expand voting rights as unconstitutional.

https://www.nytimes.com/2021/03/02/us/politics/supreme-court-arizona-voting.html

Of course this Bill that Georgia is clearly and undeniably designed to minimize black voting rights. We will now see huge long lines to vote in African American areas of the state and white voters will have no lines. There will never be a Democrat win another state wide election in Georgia and many other states for decades to come. The truth is that the Democrats lost in 2016 and that was their only chance to keep this country from going to autocracy. The victory in 2020 I fear is just an aberration. They control the courts, and they will now be able to do what it takes to stay in power despite the voters’ will. They will take control of Congress in 2022 and will deliberately sabotage the country in order to see Biden defeated in 2024. Trump will be back. Biden will not likely get a chance to replace any Supreme Court members.